Croatia defender Dejan Lovren has been banned for one international match over comments he made on social media about opponents Spain following his side’s 3-2 Nations League win in November.
Lovren posted a video on Instagram where he appeared to brag about elbowing Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos and made insulting comments about the Spain team following the game on March 15.
He also told reporters after the match that Spain were “rude on the pitch” and bad losers.
UEFA said that Lovren had fallen foul of a clause in its disciplinary rules which penalises anyone “whose conduct is insulting or otherwise violates the basic rules of decent conduct.”
He was suspended from Croatia’s next UEFA competition match, which is the Euro 2020 qualifiers at home to Azerbaijan in March.
In spite of the win, Croatia finished bottom of Group A4 after losing their final game to England and were relegated to League B of UEFA’s new competition.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich forward Thomas Mueller and Ajax Amsterdam defender Maximilian Woeber will miss both legs of their teams’ respective Champions League round of 16 ties.
The duo were banned for two European games following red cards last month.
Mueller will sit out the tie against Liverpool and Woeber misses his side’s clash with Real Madrid.
Mueller was given a straight red card for a high-kick on Nicolas Tagliafico during Bayern’s 3-3 draw against Ajax and was banned for two European club matches.
Woeber was dismissed in a separate incident of the same match. (Reuters/NAN)